Six independent retailers star in Allwyn UK 'Local Retail Champions' billboard campaign
The campaign celebrates the role of retailers in raising funds for Good Causes through selling National Lottery tickets and scratchcards
The six retailers are among 469 who have raised over £1million for Good Causes
Independent retailers have raised over £10 billion for National Lottery-funded Good Causes
This week, the faces of six independent retailers located in Belfast, Bristol, Manchester, Ilkeston, Gateshead and Glasgow will appear
on billboards in their local communities, and on social media, in a campaign created to recognise the contribution of independent local stores in raising more than £10billion for National Lottery Good Causes.
Allwyn UK, operator of The National Lottery, who has funded the campaign, invited these retailers to take part because they have each
helped raise more than £1 million for Good Causes since they began selling National Lottery tickets and scratchcards in their shops.
The retailers starring in the campaign are:
Julie Campbell, Shopkeeper at Sinclair's Newsagent in Belfast
Pinku Patel, Store Manager of Causeway Card Shop & Newsagents in Bristol
Aftab Bhatti, Owner of Dynasty News in Glasgow
Priti Patel, Owner of John’s News in Ilkeston
Umar Nasir, Assistant Manager of The Paper Shop in Manchester
Phil Lawrence, Co-owner of Choices Newsagent in Gateshead
Alastair Ruxton, Chief Impact Officer at Allwyn UK said:
“The £10 billion milestone is an incredible achievement by independent retailers, but a number alone doesn’t tell the full story. 'Local Retail Champions' is about putting the people behind that contribution centre stage and showing the impact independent
retailers help make possible in communities across the UK.
“We want independent retailers to feel proud of the role they play in raising much-needed funding for National Lottery Good Causes and
for their communities to recognise it too.”
Julie Campbell, shopkeeper at Sinclair's Newsagent, said: “Our family has been running Sinclair's Newsagent for 26 years, so it’s
lovely to see the shop recognised in this way. Raising more than £1.2 million for Good Causes across the UK is something we can share with our customers, as they’ve helped make it happen. With projects like Templemore Baths here in East Belfast, you can see
what National Lottery funding means locally. That makes this feel about much more than having my face on a billboard.”
Pinku Patel, store manager of Causeway Card Shop & Newsagents, said: “To know that National Lottery tickets sold at Causeway Card
Shop & Newsagents have helped raise more than £1.5 million for Good Causes across the UK is something we can all be proud of. It’s a contribution made possible by our customers, and this campaign is a chance to celebrate that together. From local community
projects to much-loved Bristol venues, National Lottery funding supports so much across our city. It’s great to know that our shop and customers are playing a part in making that possible.”
The Local Retail Champions campaign launched last month, with films made with three retailers, located in Kent, Wales and West Yorkshire.
They each received a visit from a famous face with a connection to their local area – Joanna Page, presenter and actress, Nicola Adams, the first female boxer to become an Olympic champion Olympian and Matt Weston, double Olympic gold medal skeleton racer
at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
Allwyn UK has also sent letters to over 22,000 independent retailers who sell National Lottery tickets and scratchcards thanking them
for their individual contribution. Of those, 1,623 shops have raised more than £500,000, 469 have raised more than £1m, and 28 have broken the £2m mark. Remarkably, two shops have each raised more than £3m for Good Causes.
On average, 23p of every pound spent on The National Lottery goes to Good Causes, which has supported more than 680,000 projects across
arts, community, heritage and sports since its launch in 1994.